Eric Spencer’s practice is concentrated in special litigation and compliance with an emphasis in election law, campaign finance, public policy, and government relations. Eric is deeply experienced in election-related litigation and appellate matters before state and federal courts and agencies.
He previously served as State Election Director and in-house counsel for the Arizona Secretary of State’s office, bringing his depth of knowledge to the firm’s Election Law and Constitutional and Political Litigation practices. In his capacity as State Election Director, Eric served on the Standards Board for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) for developing voting equipment guidelines and, by virtue of his security clearance, regularly consulted with federal and state officials on sensitive election and cybersecurity matters. Eric supervised dozens of litigation matters in state and federal courts as in-house counsel, including legislative redistricting litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court. Eric also focused on lobbying and government relations, having drafted and shepherded into law several high-profile bills through the Arizona Legislature. All told, Eric decided over 50 campaign finance complaints, supervised over 500 candidate filings, supervised review of over 1.8 million initiative signatures, and oversaw 8 state and federal elections in his capacity as one of the state’s top election officials.
In private practice Eric regularly advises candidates, consultants, lobbyists, political action committees (PACs), ballot measure and independent expenditure committees, political parties, municipalities, corporations, election-related vendors, trade associations and other tax-exempt organizations, and individual donors and political contributors. Eric advises on campaign finance compliance and reporting and handles complaints before the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Arizona Secretary of State’s office, Citizens Clean Elections Commission, and various local jurisdictions. He also has extensive experience litigating initiative, referendum, and recall measures in state courts, buttressed by one of the few litigation teams capable of simultaneously challenging multiple statewide ballot measures. Most recently, Eric served as redistricting counsel in Arizona following the 2020 decennial census. In his personal capacity, Eric founded the Arizona Election Law Blog and provides regular legal updates at @azelectionlaw on Twitter.
Additionally, Eric is experienced in a wide range of real estate, healthcare, government contracting and construction-related mediations, arbitrations, and litigation in state and federal courts, including the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. He has experience representing property owners, developers, lenders, hospitals and healthcare institutions, design professionals, contractors, material suppliers, and equipment rental companies in performance and payment disputes under state and federal law.
Community
Political Commitment
Political and Election Law
Media Appearances
Presentations and Publications
Construction Litigation